Kadyrov's serial fits into trend of discrediting Ukrainian authorities

Ramzan Kadyrov has repeatedly criticized the President of Ukraine and the filming of the "serial" about Zelensky has become a continuation of the federal trend of making attacks against Ukrainian authorities, although the videos clips with Kadyrov "starring" should be treated mainly as entertainment, the political analysts interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot" have noted.

Since July 4, the head of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, has been posting a serial in a social network "Zelensky's Adventures", ridiculing the President of Ukraine. Kadyrov himself took part in the filming. In one of the video clips, Kadyrov forces the actor playing the role of Zelensky to sign the capitulation act and pronounce "Akhmat is power!"

The idea of the serial is not Kadyrov's one, Alexei Malashenko, the chief researcher at the Institute of World Economy and International Relations of the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS), is sure.

"It seems to me that some producers in Moscow saw Kadyrov's activeness on Ukraine and decided to capitalize on it by offering him the idea of making a serial about Zelensky. The head of Chechnya, being an official who follows the trend of discrediting people on the topic of Ukraine, happily agreed," Mr Malashenko told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent, adding that the serial is sooner Kadyrov's entertainment, not a political action.

Sergey Zhavoronkov, a senior researcher at the Laboratory of Institutional Problems at the Gaidar Institute for Economic Policy, has suggested that the serial about Zelensky is Kadyrov's initiative. "It's possible that this is his idea; maybe, it's implemented by people from Moscow. But only Kadyrov could have come up with this. He is trying to present himself as the great winner over Zelensky. After four months [of the military operation], he has to film serials and show his loyalty and devotion. And the topic of Ukraine is universal for officials and for negative statements," Mr Zhavoronkov has stated.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on July 8, 2022 at 07:32 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.